Top American TV journalist Bob Woodruff and his cameraman have been seriously wounded in a bomb attack in Iraq. ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff and camera operator Doug Vogt were travelling with an Iraqi army unit near Taji, north of the capital Baghdad. The blast was reportedly caused by a 'improvised explosive device', a common tactic aimed at US army vehicles. The men are being treated at an American military hospital, according to an ABC statement. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk

Around 20 armed men stormed the headquarters of a South Korean oil services company in Nigeria's lawless delta and stole more than $300,000, police said on Sunday.It was the latest attack on foreign firms in Nigeria's oil producing region.Police said the group arrived by speed boat and forced their way into the compound of Daewoo Nigeria Limited, a unit of South Korea's Daewoo Engineering and Construction Co Ltd, on Saturday before escaping with more than $300,000 into the delta's maze of tidal creeks.There were no casualties. Police are investigating whether the attack was the work of ethnic Ijaw militants who abducted four foreign oil workers 18 days ago and have crippled a tenth of Nigeria's production in a six-week campaign of violence."We are still investigating this attack because the circumstances surrounding it is still not clear," Ireju Barasua, spokeswoman for Rivers State police, said....http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/africa/01/29/nigeria.attack.reut/index.html?section=cnn_world

Pope Benedict XVI called on world leaders to unite in the fight against poverty Sunday and sent two doves flying into St. Peter's Square in a symbol of peace, continuing a tradition begun by his predecessor, John Paul II. From his studio window overlooking the square, Benedict offered a special greeting to those who suffer from leprosy, a disfiguring condition also known as Hansen's disease that affects hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. Noting that Sunday was World Day of Leprosy sufferers, the pontiff encouraged missionaries, health care personnel and volunteers working in the field against the scourge....http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1554305&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

A man picking up his young son for a supervised court visit was shot twice at point-blank range by the boy's 81-year-old great-grandmother and died of his injuries, police said. Alex Reyes, 26, was shot Saturday while picking up his 18-month-old son, said Jim Amormino, a spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff's Department. Witnesses reported that Reyes appeared to be having a casual conversation with his ex-wife and her grandmother, Jeane Ellen Allen, on the front porch of their home, when Allen allegedly pulled out a gun and fired, said Amormino. "There was no argument," he said. "She just pulled the gun out and started firing." Reyes was shot in the hip and the head and died at a hospital, said sheriff's department Lt. Ted Boyne. ...http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1554270

Brazilian TV has broadcast footage of a baby girl being rescued from a black plastic bag floating in a lake. Amateur footage captured the moment when the bag was fished out and opened by a park worker in Belo Horizonte. Jose da Cruz, who was filmed performing the rescue, said he was first alerted to the bag by sounds of a "cat crying". The baby, thought to be two months old, is said to be healthy, and is being kept in hospital while authorities search for relatives. "I heard a sound of a cat," Mr da Cruz told television channel TV Globo. "But, between a child and a cat, the noise is the same. "Then, the noise was increasing and it caught my attention." Mr da Cruz said he then called security and a local cameraman, who happened to be filming in the area, filmed the baby being pulled out. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4659568.stm

White House economic adviser Ben Bernanke will almost certainly win Senate approval on Tuesday to become the 14th chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve. Beyond that, the road gets hazy. Bernanke, head of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, will take control of the U.S. central bank in a period of crucial choices for monetary policy and heightened economic uncertainty.That uncertainty grew on Friday with a government report that showed U.S. economic growth slowed sharply to a 1.1 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter of last year, the slimmest gain in three years.Under the experienced hand of Alan Greenspan, who has served as Fed chief since August 1987, the central bank has lifted benchmark overnight interest rates to 4.25 percent in 13 quarter-point steps since June 2004 to head off inflation.Fed officials meet again on Tuesday, Greenspan's last day in office, and a 14th small rate hike appears assured....http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060129/bs_nm/economy_fed_bernanke_dc